By Jordan Givens | A college student’s favorite words are “free food.” Okay, maybe not their favorite words, but in the top five, all of which start with “free.”
This is what the Baptist Student Ministry had in mind when they began their free lunch ministry. Keith Platte, Howard Payne’s BSM director of 8½ years says, “the ministry was started to feed students and highlight local churches.” Many BSMs on campuses across the state have a similar meal. The meal at Howard Payne however, is lunch on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Churches from the Brownwood area cook and buy food to serve the students of Howard Payne each week. All these churches reach out to Platte and volunteer for a specific Tuesday of the month to bring free food.
Sawyer Fisher, HPU senior and BSM leadership team member, is in charge of the free lunch ministry. “The purpose of free lunch is to share the gospel through fellowship and also supplying food to the campus.”
“Sometimes they will have a gospel presentation, other times they will highlight and partner with churches to simply serve students,” Platte echoes.
What a better way to share the love of Christ than through food? Fisher said he chose this ministry because he loves interacting with people.
“I love serving the campus in any way possible, but with free lunch, it’s all about the friendship development and having the opportunity to share the gospel in this environment,” Fisher said.
This week’s meal was provided by Early Baptist Church.